Saturday, August 2, 2008

I can remember buying and eating a Salisbury steak TV dinner once when I was a teenager (I had no standards, apparently) and thinking, "hey, this isn't steak, it's just flat meatloaf!" I thought a "meat" and gravy meal would go over well with the kids, so I experimented with a tempeh burger/vegan sausage hybrid to get a little more meatiness in the so-called steak. I think the results were pretty good (even though the pic is very, very brown).

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6

- 1/2 pkg tempeh, boiled in water for 10 mins, cooled, and grated

- 1 cup vital wheat gluten

- 1 tsp each onion and garlic powder

- 1 tsp coriander

- 1 tsp sage

- 2 tsp paprika

- 1/2 tsp dill

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tbsp HP/A1/BBQ sauce

- 1 tbsp soy sauce

- 3/4 to 1 cup water

METHOD

Get water boiling in your steamer.

1. Mix grated tempeh, wheat gluten, and spices together in a bowl. Add sauces and enough water to make a wet but firm dough and mix with a fork. Knead for a min to mix well. The dough should be the same consistency as the vegan sausage dough. Divide into 6 pieces and shape each into a "steak." Wrap each in foil and steam for 30-35 mins (rotating halfway through), until steaks have swelled against the foil.

2. Heat a thin layer of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry steaks for a few mins on each side, to firm them up a bit and get a bit of a crispy outer layer. Top with gravy and serve.

A NOTE ON GRAVY

If you have a favourite brown gravy, use it here. I would have made a roasted mushroom gravy but I knew there would be a bunch of whining from the boys. So, I made a plain gravy with some of the spices from the steaks. I heated 1 tbsp of olive oil and whisked in 1 tbsp of flour. I then whisked in 1 cup of soy milk and 2 tsp soy sauce. I then seasoned with salt, pepper, coriander, sage, paprika, garlic and onion powder.

I made this for dinner last night with some couscous and kale, and it was a huge hit! I'm always trying to find ways to incorporate tempeh into recipes that aren't just...a slab of tempeh on my plate. However, apparently grating tempeh is far different from just smooshing it, haha... it was kind of chunky, but I only had a lemon zester, which wouldn't work. Still sooo tasty!

I obviously messed something up when I made these. The flavor was great, but the texture was ick. Kind of mushy/chewy. The mix was very wet when I was kneading it, so perhaps I should have cut back on the water a bit. They were also very doughy after being steamed.

cravin' veggies,Hmmm. The mixture should be like the sausages, if you have made those. It should be moist and pliable, but not "very wet." I kept the wet:dry ration pretty much the same, so the dough should be similar. The "steaks" should swell against the foil, so make sure you have sealed them up as firmly as possible. So, I would suggest cutting back on the water first.

This were brilliant. I kept the basic mix but changed a few of the sauces/spices around. Letting them cool after steaming, then crumbing and frying works very well too. These would make great burgers on the BBQ, and you could steam a batch of a dozen beforehand. The texture's out of this world.